Futuristic Jetpack Will Go on Sale for $200,000 Next Year

Below:

Next story in Science

"It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a firefighter wearing a
jetpack!" That could be something you find yourself saying as
early as next year.

A company in New Zealand recently announced that its futuristic
product — a fan-propelled, personal flying machine— will be
commercially available during the second half of next year. But
before you add the jetpack to your holiday wish list, check the
price tag. It's expected to sell for around $200,000.

The company sees the pack as a tool for "saving human lives," and
some of the potential applications listed on its website include
fire services, border patrol and search-and-rescue operations.
Test flights for
the Martin Jetpack began in 2013, and most recently, the pack
made an appearance at the International Paris Air Show.

The pack lifts off the ground using a set of powerful fans,
driven by a gasoline engine, that are attached to a
carbon-fiber-and-aluminum frame. The contraption can stay in the
air for about 30 minutes, and can reach speeds of 46 mph (74
km/h) and an altitude of 3,280 feet (1,000 meters), according to
the Martin Aircraft Co. The metal ducts that surround the
jetpack's fans are a safety feature that keeps the pilot, as well
as anyone standing around the jetpack, away from the whirling fan
blades.

The fan-based propulsion system is easy to control, according to
the company. And the pack's fans also set it apart from
rocket-based systems, such as a prototype jetpack that runs on
hydrogen peroxide and nitrogen gas that was showcased
at the Smithsonian "The Future Is Here" festival in 2014. In
addition to the ducted fan blades, the jetpack features a
parachute system that allows a pilot to ditch the contraption if
something goes horribly wrong.

Someone on the ground can also control the pack remotely, and the
device is designed to take off and land vertically. These
features make it ideal for emergency-response tasks, such as
soaring over the tops of trees to scope out a forest fire or
flying to a high plateau to rescue a stranded hiker.

"With its small dimensions, it can operate in confined spaces,
close to and between buildings, near trees or in other areas that
large or very tall aircraft, such as helicopters, can't access,"
Mike Read, director of flight operations at Martin Aircraft Co.,
said in a recent video posted to the company's YouTube channel.

Just last year, researchers at Arizona State University built a
very different kind of jetpackthat could one day help soldiers
move across rough terrain at record speed. Originally developed
for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the
branch of the U.S. military responsible for developing new
technologies, the
"4-Minute Mile" jetpack is currently helping runners move at
record speed. So far, the pack has helped one (already fast)
runner clock a mile in just over 5 minutes.